Scorched
by ThatOneAussieChick
Summary: When Eldra Bjorgman of Arendelle was born, the whole kingdom was excited. Especially her parents, the Prince and Princess of Arendelle. For a while, everything was okay. Everything was perfect. It was perfect until Eldra's secret was exposed. But now that she's grown up and returned to Arendelle for a bread delivery, everything comes crashing down, including the kingdom itself.
1. Prologue

"Elsa, please, reconsider."

The night was cold. Colder than any other normal night, even in winter. And not just because Elsa had gone crazy with her powers again. No, this night was cold because of the sin about to be committed at the riverbed.

The icy queen sighed and slowly turned to face her sister, the slightly smaller ginger who was in hysterical tears. Though Elsa hated to see her sister like this, she needed to do this. It was for Arendelle's own good. What kind of queen would she be if she didn't care about her kingdom?

Elsa reached out a hand to touch Anna's shoulder, but she pulled away, a look that could only be described as disgusted, frightened rage in her crystal blue eyes.

"Anna, I can't. You know why I have to do this."

"There has to be another way."

"Anna, please, you have to understa-"

"Elsa, this isn't right! Mama and Papa wouldn't have done this to you!"

Elsa was taken aback. She hung her head and sighed again.

"I'm the queen, and I say this has to be done," said the cryokinetic sister, whose tone dropped from concerned to strict rather quickly, and she turned to walk down the riverbed.

"But... but... b-but she's my d-daughter!"

"Anna, shhh, it's okay," Kristoff said, rubbing his wife's back, though it was obvious he did not think this was okay. He glared at Elsa and kissed Anna's head.

Anna started to sob again and buried her face into Kristoff's chest. The sound of her sister crying broke Elsa's heart. She looked back at her sister and her brother-in-law, who were both sort of crying, though Kristoff was only letting tears fall down his cheeks, while Anna was full out bawling. Guilt started bubbling up into the queen's throat, and she averted her eyes from they crying couple.

Three guards stood at the base of the gently flowing river, each with a hand under a somewhat large woven basket. Elsa nodded to them, and they gently lowered the basket into the river.

A small gasp emanated from behind Elsa, and she turned to see who it was.

Of course, it was Anna.

"Eldra, no..." the princess whispered as the basket floated down the river. Elsa blinked back a tear and gestured for the guards to follow her as she made her way back up to her kingdom.

Anna pulled away from Kristoff and ran into the castle, sobbing hysterically. Kristoff sighed and watched the basket float away, knowing that there was nothing he could really do know.

A pang of guilt crossed his face as he realized that his inability to help was a problem. Was he really that bad of a father? Should't he do something? Why didn't he do something?

After all, his 1 month old daughter was in that basket, floating slowly away from the kingdom in which she was born.

Kristoff sighed and turned to go back to Arendelle, but not before glancing back at the river.

His daughter was in that basket. _His daughter was in that basket._

His daughter was in that basket, floating away, taking her young beauty and powers with her.

Yes, she had powers. But not that were any good, especially not in Arendelle, where Elsa and her icy powers lived.

That's why she had to go.


	2. Wake Up

_"Eldra, no..."_

_Water. Water everywhere._

_Slowly drifting down the river. In a large woven basket. Away from her family. Her home. Her life._

_Slowly floating down the river in a large woven basket away from her family, her home, her life._

_Floating away from everything she had known, albeit she had only known it for a month._

_And now it was gone._

_She had been sent away._

_It's like she had never existed._

_..._

The sizzling sensation on the back of the girl's neck had started again. It wasn't as strong as the first couple of times, but it was still painful.

She reached a hand up to her neck, back to the charred, ashy patch of skin, and gently set her fingertips on it. The pain subsided slightly, but it still throbbed.

It always did. Not that she cared. She had gotten used to it.

With a yawn, the girl opened her eyes and sat up, looking around.

She was still in her own little bed, in the little room that she shared with 2 other girls. Only one of them was still in the room with her, sprawled over the bed, asleep, and snoring louder than thunder.

"Eldra, Hedvig, you in there?"

The two girls gave a loud groan in reply.

"Eldra and Hedvig. Get up. Mrs Anette wants us out of the house by sunrise."

"Svanhild, shut up, it's too early." came the muffled response from the brown haired girl on the third bed.

The door opened, revealing a tall, beautiful young girl leaning on the door frame. Her arms were crossed, her right eyebrow raised in an annoyed curve above her forest green eyes.

"This week is the week of the princess's 13th birthday. We'll have a lot of orders. We're supposed to get up early to get the job done, Hedders." she teased, emphasizing the last word.

"Do. Not. Call. Me. Hedders." the freckled brunette hissed in the corner. She stood up and glared at the taller girl with the same forest green eyes.

"Wow. Such sisterly love." the small ginger giggled as she got out of bed. The two girls looked at her, one annoyed and the other smirking.

"Eldra, Mrs Anette wants to see you." Svanhild said, standing up straight, taking her weight off the door frame. She turned to walk away, but not before turning around again to smile at her sister. "And, Hedvig, get dressed."

Hedvig rolled her eyes and trudged over the dresser next to the door and opened the first drawer, taking out a brownish grey dress with dark red accents. Eldra held her hands out to catch her dress as Hedvig tossed it to her.

"I still can't believe, after 12 years of working here as sisters, you two still hate each other." Eldra commented as she undressed to put on her work dress. Hedvig sighed.

"I don't know. She's 19, I'm 17. We just don't get along." the she explained to her roommate with a tired slur. "It's sort of a... love-hate relationship. She pisses me off, I piss her off. Someone else pisses me off, and she is there to piss them off. It's the way it works."

Eldra nodded and hung her head. If only she had an older sister. Or older brother. Or twin. Just somebody to stand up for her if she needed it.

Hedvig rolled her eyes and took off her pajama shirt. "Trust me, you do _not_ want an older sister. They pick on you every chance they get."

Eldra nodded again and put on a pair of dark red tights to go with the dress. Such bland, dry colors... grey and maroon. Ew.

"Does this braid look messy?"

The younger girl glanced over at her roommate, who was completely dressed, her hair in a rather sloppy side braid. Eldra responded with a small smile and a slight nod. Hedvig smiled as well.

"Good. That's what I was going for. To show that I couldn't care less about this job."

Eldra laughed and tied her hair up into a bun atop her head, her fiery red bangs framing her face.

Another day, another migraine.

"Hedvig and Eldra! Get down here now!"

Svanhild's voice had never been so loud. It had never been so... inyourface. Hedvig groaned and trudged down the stairs, her messy fail of a braid bobbing on her right shoulder as she did. Eldra turned to look at herself in the mirror one last time.

She was still the thin, tall, slightly tanned ginger with a fiery amber color in her eyes and a small dusting of freckles over her cheeks. She tried for a smile, finding that she was actually quite pretty when she smiled. Not that she had a mother or father to tell her, though.

Her parents hadn't wanted her. They sent her in a basket down a river. Was it because they knew what she could do? Well, they got rid of her for something.

Eldra sighed and exited the room, following Hedvig down the stairs to the first floor.


	3. Dancing

"You are so lucky, Eldra."

Eldra exhale/laughed in confusion, her brow furrowed. How on earth was _she_ lucky? Her parents had given her up. The only reason she was still alive was because of Mrs Anette, who had found the basket and had saved Eldra from the freaking waterfall disaster that would have come up in the next few miles.

"How the hell am I the lucky one?" Eldra responded, casting Hedvig a glance.

"You can do the fire thing," Hedvig responded, looking quite serious for the joker that she was. "And you have some serious dancing talent."

Eldra couldn't help but blush. "I wouldn't call it _serious_ dancing talent."

"Well, I would," came Hedvig's reply.

"So would I," Svanhild called from across the kitchen, her hands balled up in fists, kneading a particularly floury dough ball. "I mean, if I could dance the way you do, I be flaunting it around day and night."

"So you'd just brag about it?" Eldra responded, her left eyebrow rising above the other in a confused manner. Svanhild laughed.

"Yeah, pretty much."

Eldra scoffed and bent down to check the fire under the grills of the oven where the bread sat. She poked at it with her bare hands, letting the flame dance around her fingers. Hedvig watched in awe as the fire almost fully engulfed Eldra's hand, though all Eldra could do was smile.

Svanhild too turned her head to watch Eldra as she expertly flew the flame from one hand to the other, and all without a single burn on her hands.

"See? That's why you're lucky." Hedvig said as a smile grew across her face. Eldra smirked and flew the flame at Hedvig, and much to the brunette's surprise, it didn't hit her. It just twirled around her head, transforming her messy chocolate colored braid into a neat chocolate colored braid with glimmering red streaks.

"Holy hell," Hedvig exclaimed, examining her now beautiful locks. Though the streaks had finished glistening, they were still considerably bright, but, strangely, fit in well with her light olive skin tone, her almost poison green eyes, and her warm chocolate brown hair.

Eldra smiled and turned her glance to Svanhild.

"No thanks, Eldra. Unlike my barbarian sister, I actually brush my hair, and don't need your amazingly pointless powers to fix my braid for me." Svanhild replied, smirking. Eldra pretended to look hurt.

"Amazingly pointless?" she asked. "I will have you know that I just made your sister's hair much more pleasant to look at than yours with my pointless powers. And I don't get burned if I touch fire, unlike the rest of you normal people."

Svanhild raised a teasing eyebrow when she saw the Eldra had grown a rather large, arrogant smirk on her face as well. "What's so bad about being normal?"

"Oh, you know, you can't do this."

Eldra balled her hands up into fists and twirled, opening them at the same time. Flames engulfed everything, but didn't burn them. They just danced atop of the wooden tables, creating a rather pretty image of a dancing girl in an elaborate dress with the smoke. Eldra crossed her arms and watched, smugly, as Svanhild gazed at the fire in awe.

Eldra started to move with the girl in the smoke. They shared the same movements at the same times. It really was rather magical.

Eldra's feet gracefully darted to different places, her arms twirling around her, her entire body moving with the inaudible rhythm. As she did, the fire faded away, taking the smoke girl with it, leaving Eldra there.

Eldra, who was now glowing, as flames had started to ignite along the hem of her dress, leaving a trail of smoke wherever she moved to.

The door opened as other girls came in to watch the show. Eldra smirked and flew a blast of flames at them, making them all scream. The flame turned into a mini Eldra and twirled along on top of their heads harmlessly.

"Eldra! Eldra! Eldra!"

The cries of the crowd of girls got louder as Eldra got brighter. She ignited her hands and moved them around, creating a glowing figure in the air. The girls couldn't help but clap. Rather loudly.

"What's going on in there?" came a loud voice from outside. All the girls froze in fear, their eyes and mouths open wide.

The door slammed open, revealing a short, plump woman with rosy cheeks and grey hair tied up into a tight bun behind her head. Her squinty brown eyes scanned the room in a suspicious manner, making all the girls shiver.

"Get back to work!" the woman yelled, pointing out the door. In unison, the girls hung their head and muttered, "Yes, Mrs Anette."

Mrs Anette looked around the room one more time before she settled her glance on Eldra, who was looking rather sheepish with her blushed cheeks and fiddly hands and hung head.

"Eldra." said the woman, making the ginger jump.

"Yes, Mrs Anette?"

"It's your turn for deliveries today."

Eldra sighed. Deliveries were never good.

"Yes, Mrs Anette. Where do I deliver it to?"

"Arendelle."


	4. Nissie Austad

"I can't freaking believe this."

Eldra trudged around the glossy black mare, her large, thick boots leaving distinct footprints in the snow behind her. Her face was twisted into a seemingly permanent scowl, her movements heavy and almost like a robot's.

"I can't believe I have to risk my freaking life delivering pastries to a kingdom that most likely doesn't even give an F if it fails to get there because they have bakers of their own, the jerks." Eldra muttered, hastily plopping a worn out leather saddle onto the worn out wool pad on the mare's back. "I mean, I know I have to do it. It's my job. But why the hell was _I_ chosen to go to _Arendelle_? She knows that I have fire powers. She knows that if I come in contact with any form of water, I could die. And guess what? Arendelle has freaking ice everywhere! And guess what else? Guess what else, Jette?"

The mare gave Eldra a rather bored, I-don't-care look at the metion of her name. Eldra balled up her hands, which were being held together so tight they were glowing.

"ICE IS JUST SOLID WATER, FOR ODIN'S SAKE!"

Jette nickered and put her head down to eat some more hay. Eldra tightened the girth and hooked the baskets onto the carriers at the sides of the saddle, tying the bag of bread to her cape before climbing on, grabbing the reins.

"Let's go, mare." Eldra muttered to Jette before kicking her in the sides. Jette let out a mighty neigh, reared, and burst of out the stable into the cold, snow-covered outside world.

_..._

Foot steps.

That's all Eldra heard.

The constant _shft shft shft_ _shft _of Jette's hooves leaving marks in the snow.

The soft, white, fresh, crunchy snow.

It made Eldra sick.

She was already starting to feel rather weak. A few streaks in her hair had turned silvery white, shimmering under the light of the grey colored sun. Her skin tone had started to get slightly lighter than it was when she left. Every time a snowflake landed on her skin, she would shiver, and her hair would get another streak of white.

The two had been traveling for most of the day. Judging by the position of the mountains, she was getting closer. Maybe four hours away.

"Jette..." Eldra complained. The mare nodded her head in acknowledgment. Eldra sighed. "Can't you go any faster? Like, a canter or something?"

Jette nickered and quickened her pace to a fast trot before quickly and calmly transitioning to a smooth, fast canter. Eldra smiled and loosened her body, allowing herself to flop up and down with the movement of the coal colored horse below her.

Though Jette was moving rather swiftly for a horse cantering on ice, it still wasn't enough to get Eldra there in time. Eventually, the slightly overworked mare had to slow down and walk. The sun set before they even reached the borders of the kingdom. Though the sun's light had been grey in color, it still made the things in the forest around Eldra and Jette visible.

But the sun was gone and had taken all the natural light with it.

The moon and stars had been shining, of course, but the layers of snow covering the trees above the two travelers prevented the light from being seen.

Eldra sighed and pulled off the glove on her left hand to ignite it. A weak but bright flame illuminated everything around them.

Jette kept trudging on through the snow, her head hung low. She didn't seem to care about the sudden burst of firelight. She just kept her head down as they walked in silence.

"Hey!"

Both Jette and Eldra lifted their heads to face the tree to their right. Had it just... talked to them?

"Hey, you two!"

Jette flicked her ears into their upright, alert position. Eldra glanced around, confused.

"How the hell are you talking?" she asked the tree, squeezing her legs to get Jette to move forwards, towards it. The tree laughed in response.

"Well, I learned when I was younger, about two. Maybe one, I'm not sure. It was a long time ago," the tree replied, sounding rather amused. Eldra raised an eyebrow.

"But trees don't talk," she said. "Well, at least not where I come from."

"Trees? Where'd you get the idea that I'm a tree?"

"What?"

"Is where you come from bereft of humans, because the last time I checked, that's what I am."

"What?"

"Are you deaf? I said that I. Am. A. Human."

Eldra took a moment to think about this.

"Hello?" the human said. By the sound of the voice, the human was most likely a girl, probably around Eldra's age. "Are you still there?"

Eldra smiled. This was amusing her. "Yeah, I'm still here. What's your name?"

"Nissie. Nissie Austad. I'm the daughter of the Head Guard in Arendelle. What about you?"

"I'm Eldra. Just Eldra. I was never given a last name."

"What the hell does that even mean?"

"I'm an orphan. I live and work at Mrs Anette's bakery a day south of here. She saved me from my nearing death."

"Death?"

"She found me in a basket floating down the river when I was a month old. She told me she knew who I was because my name was embroidered into the blanket I had been wrapped in."

Silence.

"_Eldra_?"

"Yes, that's me." Eldra said slowly. A shadow emerged from the dark grove of trees around them.

Except it wasn't just a shadow, it was another girl riding a horse.

This girl was most likely Nissie. Eldra balled her glowing hand into a fist, turning the light off, but not before Nissie could she. Her bright blue eyes darted from Eldra's fist to her face to her fist to her face, a smile growing wide on her own face.

"Come with me," she said, and raced off towards the gates at the now visible end of the forest.


	5. The Paintings

"What's that bag full of?"

Nissie's finger was pointed at the bag on Eldra's cape.

"Bread. From the bakery that I mentioned earlier." Eldra explained.

"The one you said that you live in and work at?" Nissie asked. Eldra nodded.

"That would be the one."

"Ah."

The two girls rode their horses through the kingdom in silence. Nissie inhaled and exhaled quite loudly before turning back to Eldra, who was now shivering, her hair turning more and more icy in color by the minute.

"So, when's your birthday?" the Head of Guard's daughter asked, the now visible (and extremely bright) moonlight shimmering on her silky brown hair which hung loose around her shoulders.

"I'm actually not sure. Mrs Anette told me that my the actual day of my birth is in July," Eldra explained. "She actually found me on August 17th."

Nissie grinned.

"July 6th," she said, seeming very pleased with herself. Eldra smiled as well and glanced at the brunette by her side.

"How did you figure that out?" she asked. Nissie shrugged.

"I can just tell. You seem like someone whose birthday would be on July 6th."

Eldra rolled her eyes, though she was still smiling. Nissie giggled and looked ahead, pulling on the reins to stop her horse. Jette copied the other horse's motions without question, as she was a rather lazy mare. Eldra reached down to smooth the fur on Jette's shoulder, but stopped as she caught the sight of the castle.

It was massive, like a castle should be, rather regal looking, and decorated with ice. Oh, yay. A whole building adorned with pillars and roofs covered with the frozen liquid of death. Eldra sighed and jumped off of Jette, who was already striking up a friendship with Nissie's chestnut stallion. Nissie slipped off of her mount and unhooked the right basket from the carrier's hook and slipping her arm through the handle as to help. Eldra took the other basket and bag off and smiled at Nissie.

"Thanks."

"No problem," Nissie said, walking towards the castle's main door. The guards nodded at her and opened the door as wide as it could go as to let the two girls in.

The minute Eldra stepped in, she felt warm. Comforted. Serene. Tranquil. It was almost as if this castle was part of her, though that would be impossible. Eldra was an orphan. Orphans aren't meant to live in castles.

"Kai! Gerda!" Nissie called to two of the castle servants, both of who were walking along the hall in their frost tipped clothing. Eldra narrowed her eyes and grit her teeth at the site of Gerda's dress, which had a big snowflake embroidered into the bodice.

"Oh, hello, Nissie! How are you?" Gerda asked in her caring voice. Nissie beamed.

"Good, thanks. You?"

"Ah, just the usual. Taking care of the queen and her family," Kai replied. "How's your father?"

"Protective. He's been putting double guards on every guard post to make sure that nothing ruins the princess's 13th birthday."

"Well, it's nice to know that he cares." Gerda said. She shifted her gaze from Nissie to Eldra, who was still scowling, though only just. "Who's this?"

"This is Eldra. She's from Mrs Anette's. She's come to deliver the bread and stuff." Nissie explained. Eldra nodded in agreement to Nissie's story, though her eyes had narrowed at the phrase 'bread and stuff'. Gerda smiled and took the baskets and bag from the girls's hands and shuffled off in the direction of the kitchen with Kai on her tail. Nissie sighed.

"The queen's servants. They're close to everyone in the royal family." Nissie explained. Eldra nodded again. Nissie skipped towards the door and waved to Eldra on her way out.

"Wait, where are you going?" Eldra stuttered, taking a step forwards. Nissie turned.

"To my house. My mother's probably worried sick about me. I've been gone longer than I should have been," she called before bounding off. Eldra sighed and took another look at the great hall of the castle.

Dark blue paint lined the walls. The icy white floor was half covered by a fluffy light blue rug that lead to the throne at the top of the hall.

And, surprise surprise, the throne was made of ice.

Above it sat a painting of the queen, in her regal snowy beauty, with her icy blue dress and platinum blonde side braid, her bright blue eyes shimmering as if she knew something that Eldra didn't.

Eldra walked down the carpet towards the throne, her eyes on the painting. To the right side of it was the portrait of a happy looking younger girl with two strawberry blonde braids and sky blue eyes.

Eldra knew that face. It was just so familiar. She had seen the spitting image of it every single time she saw her own reflection.

To the right of that painting was the picture of a stocky blond man with chocolate brown eyes. Everyone was smiling, as if living in Arendelle was the best thing that could possibly exist. The corners of Eldra's mouth started to turn up with a small grin.

But it was the last painting that really caught her eye.

It was a picture of a small, newborn baby. A newborn baby girl with fiery red hair and flame colored eyes, with a dusting of freckles over her cheeks and nose. Eldra furrowed her brow and looked closer at the painting.

Why did it resemble _her_?

"It's a beautiful portrait, isn't it?"

Eldra jumped and turned on her heels, eyes wide. The voice, which had scared the ginger, belonged to the same woman in the first portrait above the throne. The woman in front of Eldra matched to woman in the painting completely.

Eldra was staring at Elsa, the (icy) Queen of Arendelle.


	6. Death

Eldra didn't move. She couldn't. She just stood there, frozen in shock, eyes wide and mouth open. Elsa slowly walked forward, giggling softly at the sight of the girl in front of her.

"I'm not _that_ scary, you know," the queen laughed. "You can look at me normally."

Eldra shook her head to bring herself back to reality. "Right. Yeah, sorry, Your Majesty. It's just... you surprised me, that's all."

"Call me Elsa." the queen smiled and stood next to Eldra, her icy blue eyes focused on the painting of the baby.

"Who is that?" Eldra asked, turning to face the portrait. A small but very sad sigh escaped the monarch at her side.

"She was the daughter of my sister and her husband, the princess and prince of Arendelle. I can't have children, I'm infertile."

Elsa blushed as she revealed her secret, but kept talking. "She was beautiful, and she was going to be the heir to the throne after me, but she died."

Eldra couldn't help but notice how sad Elsa sounded. Almost guilty.

"Well, I'm sorry," she offered to Elsa. "She would have been a beautiful girl."

Eldra could swear she saw a tear sliding down the queen's cheek.

"It... it was my fault she died." Elsa said. She looked down at Eldra, who was giving her rather confused glances.

The two sort of looked at each other for a second before Elsa smiled.

"Maybe you should go. Your parents are probably wondering why you're taking so long."

Eldra nodded, biting her lip.

"Well, that's not actually going to be a huge problem..." she said, rubbing the back of her head in a somewhat nervous manner.

"Why not?" Elsa interrogated, looking both amused and concerned.

"Um." Eldra stuttered. "I don't exactly have any parents."

The half smirk on Elsa's face faded away. "What?" the queen choked out.

"Me. No parents." Eldra explained. "It's a touchy subject."

"I'm so sorry." Elsa said, sounding quite regretful. "Well, maybe you should at least head back to Mrs Anette's."

Eldra nodded and started towards the door.

"It was a pleasure meeting you, Miss..." Elsa called after her, trailing off. Eldra grinned.

"Eldra," she said. "My name is Eldra."

The young girl walked off, unaware of the shocked look on the Queen of Arendelle's face.

_..._

The second Eldra stepped outside, she knew something was wrong.

The snow had started to fall harder. The wind had picked up. The moonlight had been blocked by the dark clouds rolling across the sky.

It was just... cold.

Every step Eldra took was another step into weakness. Every time a snowflake landed anywhere on her, a few hairs on her head would turn silvery white and her skin would lose some of it's color. The fiery glow in her eyes had faded away, replaced with a now swirling ocean blue.

Her heartbeat had gotten louder, pounding in her ears, though it did so at an uneven rhythm.

She couldn't even walk properly now. It was more like a heavy trudge, leaning all her weight on her skinny, shaking legs.

Snowflakes were falling all over her, changing her hair and skin, making her weaker by the second.

"What's going on?" Eldra whispered to herself, holding up her pale hands, trying to generate a flame to warm herself up.

But she couldn't.

A snowflake fell onto her nose, and she collapsed, the last of her fiery red hair swirling into a snow color. The poor girl couldn't stop shivering as she struggled to take a breath.

She could feel her own life slipping away from her.

"No..." she wheezed, reaching out to the light in front of her as the cold consumed her. "What's happening to me?"

Another snowflake landed on her outstretched hand, causing Eldra's body to violently shiver with the pain of the cold. Darkness swirled around her, blocking her vision.

What in Thor's name was happening?

Why was she dying?

She'd been fine in the castle. She's been... well, better than this on the way _to_ Arendelle. Why was the snow affecting her so badly now?

Using all the energy she had left, the dying girl took her last breath, watching the light of lamp above her fade to black.

The black darkness of death.


End file.
